''Fifty Years ofF ashion," at the Fashion Institute of Technology. AR.T Z Ll.J V) Z w --;> Ll.J ::> o Ll.J Z MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES METROPOLITAN MUSEU....., Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. (879-5500)-"The Private Collection of Edgar Degas." Degas (1884-1917) amassed one of the finest collections of paintings, drawings, and prints of his day. (At one point he even considered forming his own museum.) It was dominated by the work of Ingres and Delacroix, the heroes of the artist's youth, but was also strong in Manet, Cassatt, Cézanne, Gauguin, and, of course, Degas. The show is valuable not only for the extraordinary quality of the art but also for the insight it provides into Degas's aesthetic tem- perament. Among the riches: Dela- croix's "Count de Mornay's Apart- ment" and his portrait of Baron Schwiter, several portraits by Ingres, the London fragments of Manet's "Ex- ecution of Maximilian," and Gauguin's copy after Manet's "Olympia." Through Jan. 11.... fl] "The Draw- ings of Filippino Lippi and His Circle." Through Jan. 11. . . . fl] "Jack- son Pollock: Early Sketchbooks and Drawings." Through Feb. 8. . . . fl] An exhibition at the Costume Institute devoted to the work of Gianni Versace. Through March 22. . . . fl] "King of the World: A Mughal Manuscript from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle" and "Flowers Underfoot: Indian Car- pets of the Mughal Era," two exhibi- tions celebrating Indian art. Through Feb. 8 and March 1, respectively. . . . fl] "Francesco Clemente: Indian Watercolors." Through Feb. 8. (Open Tuesdays through Sundays, 9:30 to 5:15, and Friday and Satur- day evenings until 8:45.) MUSEU..... OF MODERN ART, 11 W. 53rd St. (708- 9480)-' 'Egon Schiele: The Leopold Collec- tion, Vienna." (See also Galleries-Uptown, Short List.) Through Jan. 4.... fl] "On the Edge: The Werner and Elaine Dannheisser Collection." Elaine Dannheisser, the colorful collector who butted heads with Morley Safer on the notorious "60 Minutes" segment trash- ing contemporary art, seems like an arche- type of the eighties, a decade when patrons sometimes eclipsed artists. The collection she and her husband have donated to the museum does include important pre-eighties works-by Joseph Beuys, Lawrence Weiner, Carl Andre, and Robert Ryman, among oth- ers-but its standouts are by the stars of the Gordon Gekko years: Jeff Koons, Robert Gober, Anselm Kiefer, etc. Given the Mod- ern's somewhat conservative reputation as a bastion of modernist aesthetics, the Dann- heisser bequest is significant. Through Jan. 20. . .. fl] "Deadpan," a video installation by Steve McQueen, in the Project Room. Through Feb. 10.... fl] "Achille Castiglioni: Design!" Cutlery, spotlights, floor lamps, tractor seats, and other graceful items from the witty Ital- ian designer. Through Jan. 6. (Open Satur- days through Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 10:30 to 6; Fridays, 10:30 to 8:30.) GUGGENHEI..... MUSEU....., Fifth Ave. at 89th St. (423-3500)-' 'Robert Rauschenberg: A Retro- spective" offers more than four hundred pieces from nearly half a century of work. At both Guggenheim venues, through Jan. 7. (Open Sundays through Wednesdays, 10 to 6; Fridays and Saturdays, 10 to 8.) GUGGENHEI..... MUSEU..... SoHo, 575 Broadway, at Prince St. (423-3500)- The museum's Rauschenberg retrospective continues here. (Open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 to 6, and Saturday evenings until 8.) WHITNEY MUSEU..... OF A.....ERICAN ART, Madison Ave. at 75th St. (570-3676)-The Richard Dieben- korn retrospective presents examples from ev- ery phase of the California master's career, including early sketches and figure studies, fifties-era abstractions, landscapes from the sixties, the' 'Ocean Park" series, and the late collages. Through Jan. 11. . . . fl] "The Warhol Look/Glamour Style Fashion." Through Jan. 18. (Open Wednesdays, and Fridays through Sundays, 11 to 6; Thursdays, 1 to 8.) A.....ERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, Central Park W. at 79th St. (769-5100)-"The Na- ture of Diamonds" looks at many facets of the adamantine stone, from its birth in volcanic fissures to its eventual rise to the heads of heads of state (e.g., on the crown of Peter the Great, displayed in the exhibition's walk-in diamond vault). Through April a 26. . . . fl] "Drawing Shadows to Stone: Photo- graphing North Pacific Peoples, 1897-1902." Through March 1. (Open daily, 10 to 5:45, and Friday and Saturday evenings until 8:45.) BROOKLYN MUSEU..... OF ART, Eastern Parkway (718- 638-5000)-' 'Monet and the Mediterranean" is an exquisite exhibition that shows the artist both on the brink of discovering the "serial procedure" that would become his signature and after having mastered it. The gardens and seascapes of Antibes radiate a delightful freshness; the opulence of the paintings of the Doge's Palace and the Palazzo Dario aflame in dying light is dazzling. Through Jan. 4. . . . fl] "The Furniture of George Hunzinger: Inven- tion and Innovation in Nineteenth Century America." Through Feb. 15. (Open Wednes- day, Dec. 31, from 10 to 5; Thursday, Jan. 1, 11 to 6; Friday, Jan. 2, 10 to 8; Saturday, Jan. 3, 10 to 9; and Sunday, Jan. 4, 10 to 8.) BRONX MUSEU..... OF THE ARTS, 1040 Grand Con- course (718-681-6000)-"Transforming the Crown: African, Asian, and Caribbean Art- ists in Britain, 1966-96" presents the work of fifty-one British nationals who offer di- verse versions of the culture of their home- land. The exhibition extends to the Studio Museum in Harlem (144 W. 12Sth St., 864- 4500) and the Caribbean Cultural Center (408 W. 58th St., 307-7420) and continues through March 15 at all three venues. (Open Wednesdays, 3 to 9; Thursdays and Fridays, to to 5; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 6.) COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEU....., Fifth Ave. at 91st St. (849-8300)-' 'Design for Life: A Centennial Celebration,' , comprising selec- tions from the treasure trove the museum has amassed over the past hundred years, sets out to demonstrate ways in which design perme- ates every aspect of our existence and ex- presses who and what we are. The show is a kind of flea-market paradise: you can find everything from a nineteenth-century chat- elaine (attached to which are a sewing kit, a pair of eyeglasses, and a scent case) to a 1922 Soviet chess set called the Reds and the Whites (the white pawn is a sorrowful worker bound in chains, the red king a dignified proletarian) to Donald Deskey's charming 1940 design for the Sportshack, a prefabricated weekend cabin. Through Jan. 4. (Open Tues- days, 10 to 9, with no admission charge after 5; Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 to 5; Sundays, noon to 5.) 15 DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 548 W. 22nd St. (989- 5912)-"Torqued Ellipses," three new monu- mental sculptures by Richard Serra in Corten steel. For this series, Serra experimented with hitherto unknown techniques of rolling steel. While the results are characteristically massive, they achieve a quality of fluidity and movement which seems almost delicate. The sculptor has pulled off a most unlikely stunt: he's shown us something new. (Open Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 6.) FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Seventh Ave. at 27th St. (217-5800)-"Fifty Years of Fashion: New Look to Now," a chronological exhibition that includes Christian Dior's 1947 New Look fash- ions; Chanel, Courrèges, Balenciaga, and other fifties haute couture; sixties youthquake looks; seventies hot pants and platform shoes; eighties spandex; and the most recent fads-retro, ethno, techno, boho, and go-go. Through Jan. 10. (Open Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 8; Saturdays, 10 to 5.) GROLIER CLUB, 47 E. 60th St. (838-6690)- "The Book Room: Georgia O'Keeffe's Library in Abiquiu" presents the artist's books, periodicals, and ephemera, in- cluding a copy of "Portrait of Mabel Dodge at Villa Curonia," presented to Alfred Stieglitz by its author, Gertrude Stein; a copy of Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," pencilled throughout with Edward Steichen's Sur- realist drawings; and O'Keefe's collec- tion of books on Asian art, literature, and philosophy. Through Feb. 21. (Open daily, except Sundays, 10 to 5.) JAPAN SOCIETY, 333 E. 47th St. (832- 1155)-"Japanese Theatre in the World," an ambitious exhibition tracing the strands of classical drama-Bugaku, Noh, Kyogen, Bun- raku, Kabuki-from the fourth century to the contemporary avant-garde. Through Feb. 1. (Open daily, except Mondays, 11 to 5.) MORGAN LIBRARY, 29 E. 36th St. (685-0008)- "Cultural Curios: Literary and Historical Wit- nesses" presents an assortment of personal items and collectibles, each with its own odd purchase on history: Lord Byron's ring, Lewis Carroll's pocket watch, Thoreau's pencil, a hank of hair from the tail of Robert E. Lee's horse. Through Jan. 4. (Open Tuesdays through Fridays, 10:30 to 5; Saturdays, 10:30 to 6; Sundays, noon to 6.) NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, Fifth Ave. at 42nd St. (869-8089)-' 'The Romanovs: Their Empire, Their Books" harks back to the days of the tsars and the illuminated books that were every bit as lavish as their more notorious hoards of art and jewelry. Salomon Room; through Feb. 28. (Open Mondays, and Thurs- days through Saturdays, 10 to 6; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 to 6.) GALLERIES-UPTOWN (Unless otherwise noted, galleries are open Tues- days through Saturdays,jrom around 10 or 11 to be- tween 5 and 6.M ost 'Will be closedN ew Year'sDayJ JEAN DE BRUNHOFF (1899-1937)-The original wash drawings, with their familiar ink out- lines, of the artist's 1939 children's book, "Babar and Father Christmas." Through Jan. 17. (Ryan, 24 W. 57th St. 397-0669.) VINCENT DESIDERio-Large figurative works in oil, nearly evenly divided between triptychs and grand single panels. The subjects seem to veer between a cool academicism (a studio floor covered with art-history manuals) and wrench- ing autobiography (the artist's hauntingly in- nocent young son, who suffers from hydro- cephaly). In this case, technical mastery-the controlled palettes, the delicate alternation of outline and sfumato-doesn't veil the emo- tional urgency. Through Jan. 3. (Marlborough, 40 W. 57th St. 541-4900. Open Mondays.) RICHARD FLEISCHNER-A small group of muted works in gouache on paper, which have been scraped and scratched and rubbed and washed to produce the look and feel of mottled age. Each of these exquisite fields has a geometric shape at the center-a Reinhardt grid within a black square, say, or, in one case, a simple